Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userYoung, Massive Star Candidates Detected throughout the Nuclear Star Cluster of the Milky Way
116
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
Shogo Nishiyama
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Aims. Young, massive stars have been found at projected distances R < 0.5 pc from supermassive black hole, Sgr A* at the center of our Galay. In recent years, increasing evidence has been found for the presence of young, massive stars also at R > 0.5 pc. Our goal in this work is a systematic search for young, massive star candidates throughout the entire region within R ~ 2.5 pc of the black hole. Methods. The main criterion for the photometric identification of young, massive early-type stars is the lack of CO-absorption in the spectra. We used narrow-band imaging with VLT/ISAAC to search for young, massive stars within ~2.5 pc of Sgr A*. Results. We have found 63 early-type star candidates at R < 2.5 pc, with an estimated erroneous identification rate of only about 20%. Considering their K-band magnitudes and interstellar extinction, they are candidates for Wolf-Rayet stars, supergiants, or early O-type stars. Of these, 31 stars are so far unknown young, massive star candidates, all of which lie at R>0.5pc. The surface number density profile of the young, massive star candidates can be well fit by a single power-law, with Gamma = 1.6 +- 0.17 at R < 2.5 pc, which is significantly steeper than that of the late-type giants that make up the bulk of the observable stars in the NSC. Intriguingly, this power-law is consistent with the power-law that describes the surface density of young, massive stars in the same brightness range at R < 0.5 pc. Conclusions. The finding of a significant number of newly identified early-type star candidates at the Galactic center suggests that young, massive stars can be found throughout the entire cluster which may require us to modify existing theories for star formation at the Galactic center. Follow-up studies are needed to improve the existing data and lay the foundations for a unified theory of star formation in the Milky Ways NSC.
rate research
Read More
We present initial results from a population synthesis model aimed at determining the star formation rate of the Milky-Way. We find that a total star formation rate of 0.68 to 1.45 Msun/yr is able to reproduce the observed number of young stellar objects in the Spitzer/IRAC GLIMPSE survey of the Galactic plane, assuming simple prescriptions for the 3D Galactic distributions of YSOs and interstellar dust, and using model SEDs to predict the brightness and color of the synthetic YSOs at different wavelengths. This is the first Galaxy-wide measurement derived from pre-main-sequence objects themselves, rather than global observables such as the total radio continuum, Halpha, or FIR flux. The value obtained is slightly lower than, but generally consistent with previously determined values. We will extend this method in the future to fit the brightness, color, and angular distribution of YSOs, and simultaneously make use of multiple surveys, to place constraints on the input assumptions, and reduce uncertainties in the star formation rate estimate. Ultimately, this will be one of the most accurate methods for determining the Galactic star formation rate, as it makes use of stars of all masses (limited only by sensitivity) rather than solely massive stars or indirect tracers of massive stars.
We construct triaxial dynamical models for the Milky Way nuclear star cluster using Schwarzschilds orbit superposition technique. We fit the stellar kinematic maps presented in Feldmeier et al. (2014). The models are used to constrain the supermassive black hole mass M_BH, dynamical mass-to-light ratio M/L, and the intrinsic shape of the cluster. Our best-fitting model has M_BH = (3.0 +1.1 -1.3)x10^6 M_sun, M/L = (0.90 +0.76 -0.08) M_sun/L_{sun,4.5micron}, and a compression of the cluster along the line-of-sight. Our results are in agreement with the direct measurement of the supermassive black hole mass using the motion of stars on Keplerian orbits. The mass-to-light ratio is consistent with stellar population studies of other galaxies in the mid-infrared. It is possible that we underestimate M_BH and overestimate the clusters triaxiality due to observational effects. The spatially semi-resolved kinematic data and extinction within the nuclear star cluster bias the observations to the near side of the cluster, and may appear as a compression of the nuclear star cluster along the line-of-sight. We derive a total dynamical mass for the Milky Way nuclear star cluster of M_MWNSC = (2.1 +-0.7)x10^7 M_sun within a sphere with radius r = 2 x r_eff = 8.4 pc. The best-fitting model is tangentially anisotropic in the central r = 0.5-2 pc of the nuclear star cluster, but close to isotropic at larger radii. Our triaxial models are able to recover complex kinematic substructures in the velocity map.
We present spatially resolved imaging and integral field spectroscopy data for 450 cool giant stars within 1,pc from Sgr,A*. We use the prominent CO bandheads to derive effective temperatures of individual giants. Additionally we present the deepest spectroscopic observation of the Galactic Center so far, probing the number of B9/A0 main sequence stars ($2.2-2.8,M_odot$) in two deep fields. From spectro-photometry we construct a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of the red giant population and fit the observed diagram with model populations to derive the star formation history of the nuclear cluster. We find that (1) the average nuclear star-formation rate dropped from an initial maximum $sim10$,Gyrs ago to a deep minimum 1-2,Gyrs ago and increased again during the last few hundred Myrs, and (2) that roughly 80% of the stellar mass formed more than 5,Gyrs ago; (3) mass estimates within $rm Rsim1,pc$ from Sgr,A* favor a dominant star formation mode with a normal Chabrier/Kroupa initial mass function for the majority of the past star formation in the Galactic Center. The bulk stellar mass seems to have formed under conditions significantly different from the young stellar disks, perhaps because at the time of the formation of the nuclear cluster the massive black hole and its sphere of influence was much smaller than today.
The chemical homogeneity of surviving stellar clusters contains important clues about interstellar medium (ISM) mixing efficiency, star formation, and the enrichment history of the Galaxy. Existing measurements in a handful of open clusters suggest homogeneity in several elements at the 0.03 dex level. Here we present (i) a new cluster member catalog based only on APOGEE radial velocities and Gaia-DR2 proper motions, (ii) improved abundance uncertainties for APOGEE cluster members, and (iii) the dependence of cluster homogeneity on Galactic and cluster properties, using abundances of eight elements from the APOGEE survey for ten high-quality clusters. We find that cluster homogeneity is uncorrelated with Galactocentric distance, |Z|, age, and metallicity. However, velocity dispersion, which is a proxy for cluster mass, is positively correlated with intrinsic scatter at relatively high levels of significance for [Ca/Fe] and [Mg/Fe]. We also see a possible positive correlation at a low level of significance for [Ni/Fe], [Si/Fe], [Al/Fe], and [Fe/H], while [Cr/Fe] and [Mn/Fe] are uncorrelated. The elements that show a correlation with velocity dispersion are those that are predominantly produced by core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe). However, the small sample size and relatively low correlation significance highlight the need for follow-up studies. If borne out by future studies, these findings would suggest a quantitative difference between the correlation lengths of elements produced predominantly by Type~Ia SNe versus CCSNe, which would have implications for Galactic chemical evolution models and the feasibility of chemical tagging.
Within the central 10pc of our Galaxy lies a dense nuclear star cluster (NSC), and similar NSCs are found in most nearby galaxies. Studying the structure and kinematics of NSCs reveals the history of mass accretion of galaxy nuclei. Because the Milky Way (MW) NSC is at a distance of only 8kpc, we can spatially resolve the MWNSC on sub-pc scales. This makes the MWNSC a reference object for understanding the formation of all NSCs. We have used the NIR long-slit spectrograph ISAAC (VLT) in a drift-scan to construct an integral-field spectroscopic map of the central 9.5 x 8pc of our Galaxy. We use this data set to extract stellar kinematics both of individual stars and from the unresolved integrated light spectrum. We present a velocity and dispersion map from the integrated light and model these kinematics using kinemetry and axisymmetric Jeans models. We also measure CO bandhead strengths of 1,375 spectra from individual stars. We find kinematic complexity in the NSCs radial velocity map including a misalignment of the kinematic position angle by 9 degree counterclockwise relative to the Galactic plane, and indications for a rotating substructure perpendicular to the Galactic plane at a radius of 20 or 0.8pc. We determine the mass of the NSC within r = 4.2pc to 1.4 x 10^7 Msun. We also show that our kinematic data results in a significant underestimation of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass. The kinematic substructure and position angle misalignment may hint at distinct accretion events. This indicates that the MWNSC grew at least partly by the mergers of massive star clusters. Compared to other NSCs, the MWNSC is on the compact side of the r_eff - M_NSC relation. The underestimation of the SMBH mass might be caused by the kinematic misalignment and a stellar population gradient. But it is also possible that there is a bias in SMBH mass measurements obtained with integrated light.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
